Daily Dabble 4/20/11

The whole crew went to the doc this morning. The boys were crazy which makes it hard to talk to the doc, but it went okay. Maylee was quite scared about the whole thing. He was screaming the minute we put her on the bed to get her shots. Poor thing...she didn't cry for too long though. She got two pokes. She weighed in at 15 lbs on the nose, 26.5 inches, and her head is on the charts in the 10%. We had an eventful trip to Target....ooooooooh Drew.....I about left him at the store. Carter ate like crazy for lunch. He kept asking for more and more! All children took naps thank goodness! I am squeezing in work before getting the house ready for Activity Days here. I love you xoxox

***Response from dad to this Daily Dabble....

The day will come when you will see them dressed and at the altar.

You will then only reflect generally on how hard it was, and weep with joy for the path in which you have done so much to bring them to this point. 

No one ever explained to me what it is like to be the best parent.  It was required that I experience the journey.  I know that this Journey is different for each one of use from choices that we make.

There is not ever a guarantee that the work we do will bring our children home.  The guidelines are available for us all in the doctrines that are available to us and our children.  The hope is that through our agency we will hold fast and continue on the path.  Gentle persuasion, patients, observation and long suffering, at times, cause us as parents to grow beyond that which we knew possible. 

The only gauge that is realized, can be read only after the experience. 

It is similar to driving a car to a destination.  It will need some fuel to get there.  We start with a full tank or whatever we have, we go, we drive defensively, still we have bumps in the road we find.  No matter what the cost of fuel we still take time to fill up our tank, or what we can, no matter what the cost.   The difference is we go into debt sometimes for a newer machine.  We only have one body, It will last for time.  Inside the working spirit continues to get stronger if we use the best fuel we can get.  The best fuel is Free for the Spirit.  I know that the teachings that we supply and example of good we show to our children is the fuel that will get them to their destination on the other side of the veil. 

Oh one other thing, it is important to keep the tires balanced.  The best place is Sacrament Mtg. on Sunday.

Love

Dad

Daily Dabble 4/19/11

The little ones conspired with each other today using their nap schedules so that I couldn't run any errands or get any work done. They were perfectly synchronized to make sure that one was awake the minute the other went down. Good thing they are cute and I love them. Drew had fun at school and is SUPER excited to go to the temple tonight and see his cousins. Carter and Maylee were happy to play in the play room for a while which allowed me to make some phone calls at least. Hopefully our pool will be ready to swim in by next week...that is, if the water is not too "dead". Love you! xoxoxo

Daily Dabble 4/18/11

The Daily Dabble! Do you love it?! A dabble of our lives at home while you are at work. Yesterday was pretty good day, well once nap time rolled around it got better! The morning had its ups and downs with Drew getting up at 6, waking Carter up, but going back to sleep, Maylee getting up earlier than normal at 8 which threw off the nap schedule and what I had planned for the day...sigh. The boys played and fought which is no surprise. They did have fun outside for a while and then came in nice and hot, sat on the couch on a towel, ate popsicles, and watched Strawberry Shortcake (they wanted to pick a girl show for Ming...and liked it and danced to the music). All kiddos went down for naps at 2. Ming was a bit of a fight, but finally let me rock her to sleep - heaven. I got work done and then Amanda came and we enjoyed the day cooling off at the park. So there you have it...your first Daily Dabble. I sure do love you and appreciate all you do!

Baby Maylee's First Birthday

Maylee Rose turned a year old.  One year full of lots of sleepless nights, sweet smiles, endless car rides echoed with screaming, priceless gazes from those big blue eyes, weight checks, prayers of gratitude, and immeasurable amounts of adoration for this little princess.  

She came earlier than expected and a little smaller than we were ready for, but we are oh so grateful she is a part of our little family!

She still adores her brothers and they are SO good with her (most of the time).

 

We took a trip to San Diego and brought along the little princess since I wasn't quite ready to leave her for a couple days. She was such a trooper and we have a lot of fun together! (A tutu bathing suit....little girls are too much fun!)

She is on the move. She can pull to a stand, cruise the couch, and get down without any problems. She gets stuck in random places, prefers not to crawl on the hard floor, and loves to be chased while standing at the couch. She prefers to sit in a "w" but we are working on it. Apparently she has tight hamstrings...poor girl got my flexibility...or lack thereof! She has just recently started standing with her back against the couch and then leaning forward by herself and stands for a few seconds! They grow and change too fast I tell ya!

Her eyes are still blue...and big...and she loves the bath...

LOVES her silky blanket. She will suck her thumb with any silky, but this is her favorite blankie and she only gets it when she is going to bed. If there is a blanket on the floor and she crawls over it she will stop and take a quick thumb suck like this and then get up and keep going. SO funny!

 

The child loves Nutella, but then again who doesn't! She is still finicky with her eating, but we are getting there. She is gaining weight so I am not going to complain too much. She still nurses when she goes to sleep, but hopefully we will be ending that some time in the near future (bitter sweet). 

 

 

We had her birthday party on Saturday with friends and family. I was not quite sure what to do for a one-year-old party, but the company and entertainment was great. Who doesn't love to watch a little girl demolish a cake!

****A BIG thank you to my wonderful friend Savanna for the great pictures of Maylee at her party!****

Weight: 15 lbs ( > 5 % - adjusted > 5%)

Height: 26.5 inches (> 5% - adjusted 3%)

 HC: 43.5 cm (10% - adjusted 25%)

A Little Privacy Please

We are going private. Please let me know if you want to be added to the list to view our family blog!

Over the Top

His hair was a little over the top.....

So we took some off the top....

 and now it is SO much better.

I was attempting to grow Drew's hair out...but I just couldn't do it. It was shaggy and he plays so hard the gel just comes right out...and it's getting hot...so off it came. I think I cut about a pound of hair off that boy's head. He has SO much hair!!!! I just adore that smile -

Smattering of my Thoughts and Daily Happenings

I stole a box of rice from Walmart...found it where Maylee was sitting in the cart only after I got all kids in the car (the thought did cross my mind to come back another day to pay for it and I even chucked it in the car, but new I just couldn't)....I had to load the kiddos back into the cart and go back in and wait in line AGAIN to pay $1 for the rice...sigh

I ate an entire Twix all by myself on the way home from Walmart...I didn't share one bite with the kids...and didn't even tell them I was eating it. 

My five year old told me I wasn't his friend anymore (I laughed) He then told me he was going to throw me in the mud. Nice.

Two year old is pretty much potty trained, except for the whole #2 part. Once he masters it all he gets a new bike.

Maylee had her first night terror. Very sad.

So thankful Lays decided to make "All Natural" flavored potato chips so I can enjoy sour cream and onion without MSG. Took long enough!

I think it is funny that people thank you for sending them a thank you card.

Carter informed me while riding home when the sun was setting and the clouds looked particularly dark that they were dirty and we "better wash them". Oh I love my son who loves to clean and help me around the house and apparently wants to clean the sky.

I took a push pin out of Maylee's mouth. #1 Mom award goes to me today.

Feeling a bit overwhelmed with prep for Drew going to kindergarten.

All three children were crying at once after we all had dinner as a family and then took daddy back to work...THAT was a fun ride home for me.

The weather cooled off here again. Thank goodness. SO not ready for the summer heat yet.

Shopping, shopping, and more shopping....Maylee's birthday, Easter, Carter's birthday, Father's Day, Bry's birthday....

Now time to wash dishes and then crawl into my bed to snuggle and sleep (love this time of day...the sleep part, not the dishes part). 

Rewarding

The boys filled their diamond jar!!! It took quite a long time, but they did it!!! We had a fun night Saturday night. We went out to dinner as a family and then took them to the store to pick out whatever toy they wanted. They didn't quite grasp that concept so we had to help them pick something out. Andrew was VERY excited about his own digital camera and clung to that...all the while Carter kept bringing me a bouncy ball or a plastic flute recorder thing.... I finally found a reading toy that he was excited about, but as we headed to check out he panicked and asked where HIS camera was. So back I went and put his toy back and grabbed another camera. At home of course Drew thought Carter's camera was better so Bry headed back to the store to return his and buy one like Carters.

    

They have had so much fun with their new cameras. Out of the 800 or so pictures they have taken I found 40 or so worth keeping. This time they are working in filling a much smaller jar which should happen faster and result in a smaller prize! Positive reinforcement works wonders!

Girl Time

Liz and Brynlee came to visit a couple weeks ago and we were SOOO excited...well, I know I was! It was so fun to just hang out as mommies and let the babies roam around. It felt just like old times with the addition of a few little people! We took a walk the first day she got here to our little park and attempted to get a picture of all four baby girls who are just months apart.

 

Needless to say....it was not very successful. Maylee was the only one without a morning nap so she was more than tired....and they just wanted to play! I just adore all these little ladies...all SUPER cute!

           

This was before the decided to venture off the blanket. Hailee and Brylnee were all over the place. It was a bit warm, but it was nice to get out and burn some of the abundance of energy the kiddos all seem to have a never ending supply of!

Drew and Katelynn had a blast playing at the park and going down the slide together. They are just too cute!

On Thursday we went to another park. The babies seemed to really enjoy the swinging. We were still able to fit the little half pints into the same swing together and they seemed to enjoy it more than they did last time. Super cute!

I love this picture, not because my daughter is in it and smiling...but because my dear friend is in the background being an adorable mommy. I just loved watching her love her baby girl. It is so fun to be at this stage in life and able to share it!

Cute little Brynlee and Maylee sure enjoyed swinging. I think Brynlee liked it more. She stayed in there for a long time just relaxing! She is such a dolly!

 

Thursday night we went out as girls and brought the babies. We ate, laughed, and talked. It was so fun to have Lizzy and Brynlee here to visit and to get some good girl time in. 

Love Him

I am still so very in love with this man....and he continues to remind me how lucky I am.

This weekend he played..

the IT guy (set up my work station with new monitors)
the socialite (spent time with some friends for dinner and chatting)
the pool man (pool almost ready for summer)
the yard man (one day we will get it all under control...smile)
the babysitter (thank goodness I got to run a couple errands with no children)
the peacemaker (helped remind me to keep my cool when my blood was beginning to boil with bickering children)
the chauffeur (took us to dinner and to pick the "prizes" for the boys filling their diamond jar)
the potty trainer (helped follow Carter around in efforts to potty train)
the hero (went back to Walmart at 10:30 pm after Drew decided he wanted the same camera as Carter)
the dish washer (got my dishes under control)

as always this weekend was mixed in some fabulous play time with the kids and snuggle time with me. I love having him home on the weekend.